Carriage and movable track therefor.



C. W. ROOD.

CARRIAGE AND MOVABLE TRACK THEREFOR. APPLICATION FILED nor. 9. 1911.

1,144,793,, Patented June 29, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

\ I I I I 2 59 /3 C. W. HOOD. CARRIAGE AND MOVABLE TRACK THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 9. 191]- 1,144,793. Patented June 29, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- cur/ran snares Parana car ier;

CHARLES W. ROOD, 0F GRAND RAPIDS, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OI ONE-FOURTH TOGEORGE M. HILL AND ONE-FOURTH TO EARL M. HILL, BOTH OF GRAND RAPIDS,

WISCONSIN Specification of Letters latent.

Patented June 29, 1915.

Application filed October 9, 1911. Serial No. 653,515.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. Boon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Grand Rapids, county of lVood, State of Wisconsin, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Carriages and MovableTracks Therefor, and declare the folmy invention is characterized willhereinafter he pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for afull understanding of my invention and of its object and advantages,reference may be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an excavatin machine arranged inaccordance with a preferred form of my invention and Fig. 2 is a planview of the machine, on a somewhat larger scale, all of the structureand parts above the main floor frame being omitted for the purpose of exosing the novel features of my invention which would otherwise beconcealed.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the carriage of an excavatingmachine hav-. ing a crane 2 supported at its lower end upon a turn-table3 which is adapted to be rotated about a. vertical axis; anging beneaththe crane is a boom4 on the outer end of which is supported anexcavating bucket All of these parts may take any usual or preferredforms since they of themselves. forrn no part of the present invention.

Secured to the underside of the carriage at the sides thereof, andextending longitudinally thereof are shoes 6 and these being preferablymade of heavy wooden beams, faced if desired, with metal. as indicatedat 8. The shoes are adapted to rest upon rollers mounted upon andforming part of suitable tracks which rest upon the ground beneath thecarriage. The two tracks are indicated as a whole by the referencecharacters 9 and 10 and they are preferably somewhat longer than thecarriage so that the carriage may be moved along the tracks for somedistance without losing its support at one end. The tracks arepreferably so arranged that they have a large bearing surface on theground which supports them, thereby permitting the weight of thecarriage to be distributed oi'er a large supporting surface andpreventing the tracks from sinking deeply into the ground if it shouldhappen to be soft and wet. In the arrangement shown each track comprisesa base member 11 made up of one or more long planks laid side by sideand -connected together by suitable cross pieces or cleats 12 fastenedthereto on the upper side. Lying above the base member of each track andextending longitudinally thereof are two long heavy beams 13 and 14.Supported upon the beams and lying between the same are a series oftransverse rollers 15 mounted in suitable bearings 16 arranged along thetops of the beams.

The tracks are placed under the carriage so that each of the shoes, 6and 7, rests upon the rollers of one of the tracks. Consequently thecarriage may be moved along the tracks with very little effort.

I contemplate moving one of the tracks at a time whenever it is desiredto shift the tracks bodily along the ground beneath the carriage. I takethe weight off the track which is to be shifted by filling theexcavating bucket and swinging the crane around to the opposite side ofthe carriage om that beneath which the track to be moved is placed.Thecrane thus forms a lever on the outer end of which the pull of theweighted bucket is exerted and the carriage becomes balanced upon one ofthe tracks, leaving the other track practically free. Suitable cableconnections are provided between the carriage and the track so as toproduce a' relative movement between the e r aa nd .v track has becomepartially embedded in the ground tb re'may be more resistance to itsmovemet over the ground than to a movement of the carriage itself andtherefore, in order to prevent'the carriage from movthe free track. Ifthe free the carriage with suitable anchors which prevent it from movingwhen a pull is exerted upon one of the tracks. The anchors are indicatedas a whole at 17 and 18, there being one near the rear end of'thecarriage on each side thereof. In the preferred form, each anchorcomprises a leg or post 19 pivotally connected at its upper end to theframework of the carriage as at 20 and provided at its lower end with acomparatively long shoe 21. Each of the posts 19. is made longer thanthe vertical distance from its pivotal axis to the under'surface of thetracks, so that normally the posts lie at an angle to the vertical,their disposition being such that their lower ends extend ,forwar fromthe track the rear. As soon of the pivotal axis. The relative movementsbetween the carriage and the tracksare effected by power devices whichact at one endupon the tracks and at the other end upon the anchors, theforce upon the anchors being applied in the direction which tends tobring them into more nearly vertical positions. .Thus the carriage islocked in place and furthermore, if the weight of the'rear end thereofhas not already been removed which is, tobe moved, the anchor exerts alifting effort and cooperates with the weighted crane to release theentire track from the weight of the carriage.

Referring again to the drawings, 22 and '23 are two drums suitablymountedupon the carriage and driven by any suitable means,

not shown. 'Secured at one end upon the drum 22- is a cable '24 whichpasses over a sheave 25 mounted upon the rear end of the carriage, thenaround a sheave 26 carried by the track 9, then around a second sheave27 on the rear end of the framework of the carriage and to the anchor 17to which the free end of the cable is connected as indi cated at 28. Itwill be seen that when the drum 22 is revolved so as to wind upthe cable24, a pull is exerted upon the anchor 17 which tends to pull its lowerend toward as the anchor takes a firm hold the track'9 begins to moveback, this movement continuing until the track projects beyondthe rearend of the carriage as far as t he actuating cable will permit.

. quently by rotating the dnum'23 the track 10, on which the sheave orpulley 31 is mounted, is moved toward the rear relative to the,carriage; it' being understood that when the trac m. moved the loadedcrane is swung to the op- 9 is to be moved, the loaded cranejis swung tothe slde on which the track while when the track 10 is. to be Conse--posite side. It will thus be seen that the tracks may be moved withoutsuspending the excavating operations, the excavating bucket being filledin the regular way and being simply swung to one side or the other to bedumped when a movement of the tracks is to be eifected.

The carriage may be moved backward over the tracks in any suitable way,preferably by means of a power device. In the arrangement shown there isa drum 35 which may be actuated in any suitable way, not shown, to whichone end of a cable 36 is fastened. The drum 35 lies at the rear end ofthe carriage and the cable extends toward the front where it passesaround a sheave or pulley 37 and thenb'ack toward the rearo'f thecarriage where it is divided into two branches 38 and 39 respectively,each of which is secured to one of the tracks near the rear endsthereof. When the drum 35 is rotated the cable is wound up thereon andthe carriage is drawn toward the rear, the

loosely on the ground, a carriage mounted on the tracks so as tobemovable lengthwise of the tracks and be held against movement in-thetransverse direction, means for balancing the carriage on'one of thetracks so as at least partially to remove the weight on the other track,and means for producm relative movements'between the'latter trac and thecarriage in the direction of the length ofthe tracks.

2. In combination, tracks adapted to rest loosely on the ground, acarriage mounted on the tracks so as to be movable lengthwise thereofand be held against movement in the transverse-direction, a cranemounted on one end of the carriage so as to be movable about a verticalaxis, the crane being of sufiicient size to permitit to overhang theaforesaid end of the .carriageand when swung to one side or the other toproject outwardly from the side of the carriage, the crane havingsuflicient weight to cause the track on one side to be partiallyrelieved. of the weight of the carriage when the crane is swung to theopposite side of-the carriage, and means for producin relative movementsbetween the latter trac and the carriage in the direction of thelengthof the tracks.

3. In combination, acarriage, tracks un- 1-,1a4,7es

der said carriage at opposite sides thereof, means for balancing thecarriage on one of the tracks so as at least partially to remove theWeight on the other track, a swinging anchor pivotally mounted on thecarriage on the side of the latter track and lying at an angle to theperpendicular, and power devices between the latter track and thecarriage and the anchor tending to swing the anchor into a perpendicularand to produce a relative movement between the latter track and thecarriage.

In combination, a carriage, a track under each side of said carriage,wheels for supporting the carriage on the tracks, means for balancingthe carriage so as to throw substantially the Whole weight on either ofsaid tracks and at least partially remove the weight on the other track,anchors at the sides of the carriage, and power devices each constructedand arranged to draw one of the anchors into operative relation to theground so as to hold the carriage against movement Copies of this patentmay be obtained for in one direction and at the same time move thecorresponding track.

5. In combination, a carriage, a track under each side of said carriage,wheels for supporting the carriage on the tracks, means for balancingthe carriage so as to throw substantially the Whole weight on either ofsaid tracks and at least partially remove the weight on the other track,anchors at the sides of the carriage, and power devices each constructedand arranged to draw one of the anchors into operative relation to theground so as to hold the carriage against movement in one direction andat the same time move the corresponding track, and means for movingthecarriage on the tracks when both anchors are in their inoperativeposition.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES W. ROOD.

Witnesses E. B. nnronn, G. M. ILL.

five cents each, by addres ing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

